christopherj
Member
I was once told “Your heart is gonna be like a 14 year old in puberty. All over the place for a while.” I’m 6 months post and it’s definitely more stable but some days feels different than others.
Awake and recovering
- Thread starter Deidra
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I was once told “Your heart is gonna be like a 14 year old in puberty. All over the place for a while.” I’m 6 months post and it’s definitely more stable but some days feels different than others.
SD Surfer
Active member
Woo Hoooo!! Outstanding!
The two biggest things they told me was:
1. Do your breathing exercises.
2. If you feel like you can get up and walk, get up and walk. (If you don't feel like you can get up and walk, get up and walk)
I remember those milestones well, downgrade from ICU, chest tube out, that's huge. They're in the rearview mirror now, just as they soon will be for you.
I'm about 5 1/2 months post op, and life is basically back to normal now. Just as it soon will be for you.
The two biggest things they told me was:
1. Do your breathing exercises.
2. If you feel like you can get up and walk, get up and walk. (If you don't feel like you can get up and walk, get up and walk)
I remember those milestones well, downgrade from ICU, chest tube out, that's huge. They're in the rearview mirror now, just as they soon will be for you.
I'm about 5 1/2 months post op, and life is basically back to normal now. Just as it soon will be for you.
Hey all, another update:
I got discharged on Tuesday but had some tachycardia issues at home (heart rate stuck at 160+) so had to go back to the ER. They said it wasnt actually afib or atrial flutter but just a generic "atrial tachycardia". Either way, nothing consistently worked to stop it so I accepted the amiodarone.
I just finished the 24 hr drip of the stuff. It definitely worked to control the rhythm, my heart sometimes goes into it again, but the amio seems to slow it down and get it back to normal after a few minutes.
My INR has been pretty stable around 2-2.5. No other issues or complications to speak of! I had a transthoracic echo and everything looked great.
The docs said its very likely just swelling/inflammation after the surgery are causing the weird rhythms, so I'll stay on the amio for a month or two until it stops and then just stay on a beta blocker! All-in-all, could be a lot worse, just a few more days to spend in the hospital
Thanks for reading!
I got discharged on Tuesday but had some tachycardia issues at home (heart rate stuck at 160+) so had to go back to the ER. They said it wasnt actually afib or atrial flutter but just a generic "atrial tachycardia". Either way, nothing consistently worked to stop it so I accepted the amiodarone.
I just finished the 24 hr drip of the stuff. It definitely worked to control the rhythm, my heart sometimes goes into it again, but the amio seems to slow it down and get it back to normal after a few minutes.
My INR has been pretty stable around 2-2.5. No other issues or complications to speak of! I had a transthoracic echo and everything looked great.
The docs said its very likely just swelling/inflammation after the surgery are causing the weird rhythms, so I'll stay on the amio for a month or two until it stops and then just stay on a beta blocker! All-in-all, could be a lot worse, just a few more days to spend in the hospital
Thanks for reading!
No, the tubes themselves just feel really really weird, but they dont hurt coming out. What did hurt were the sutures that were set up to tighten and seal the wound as the tubes came out, but I wouldn't say that pain was worse than a 3 for me.
Definitely feeling this at the moment! Yeah it seems like a pretty typical complication post surgery. One of the docs even said he sees high heart rates and tachycardias more in young people who get the surgery.
SD Surfer
Active member
Not really "painful" so much as unpleasant... mostly 'cuz it just feels really strange and wrong.
I felt it rubbing against muscles up in my traps, like "WTF, how long are those things?!"
I had an amazing nurse practitioner who had a way of always putting both me and my wife at ease, from my initial pre-op appointment all the way through to that final step of removing the tubes and sending me home.
When he was taking them out he looked me straight in the eye and said "Just focus on me, there's nothing happening you need to see so just look at me and breathe."
